


All I Have Left

by Capucine



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Brothers, Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone is Dead, Family Angst, Family of Two, Gen, Most Characters are dead, Oneshot, You're All I Have Left, almost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-04 06:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6644191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capucine/pseuds/Capucine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tim is taken by the Joker. And Damian will not lose the only family he has left.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All I Have Left

**Author's Note:**

> Written while recovering from a head injury! Cause I can't stop writing, evidently. Whoo.

The day the Joker took Tim was the day he went too far.

Which was unfortunate for him, because Damian wasn’t a forgiving person. Almost at all.

It was down to him and Tim—Batman, despite barely being a legal adult, and his Robin. A thirteen year old.

And maybe the Joker thought he could get away with attempting to kill the new, shorter Batman, like height meant less culpability. Like Damian wasn’t ready to kill at an order, despite the order always having been ‘we don’t kill.’

Because when Tim, Damian’s only remaining family, was strapped in a chair and barely cognizant due to the drugs in his system, when he was in the midst of being bludgeoned to death and Damian could tell he was crying for their long dead father—that was about when that order could be ignored, in Damian’s mind.

“You’re no Batman,” the Joker cackled, “ _Batsy_ would never cry. Even the boy blunder whose wings I clipped didn’t cry this much!”

Damian bared his teeth, waiting for the moment to spring out of the shadows. He knew enough to know the effects of the drug he’d injected Tim with—it would be near impossible not to cry.

Besides which, his father had cried. On more than one occasion.

And the mention of Jason sent a fire through Damian’s veins. No, this was not going to play out the way the Joker wanted. Not like that again.

The Joker had probably expected a chance to get a punchline in. He should have known Damian was not his father, was not any of them, because he dropped down and slit his throat in a fluid motion.

Just like that.

So much suffering could have been avoided, Damian told himself, as the blood spurted and a soundless laugh seemed to shake Joker’s face. His eyes were bugged out as he tried to breathe.

Damian quickly redirected his attention to Tim. They were near in height now, Tim always having been very short and Damian being predicted to grow into a linebacker (which turned out to be a sport thing—football-not-soccer). He had him untied fast, and lifted his brother all too easily.

Tim didn’t protest, not yet, but he would when he knew what Damian had done. Damian had no doubt about that. He didn’t care, though.

He moved Tim out of the warehouse, disregarding the Joker entirely, which only seemed to make the man desperate for a final punchline. When he reached for a device inside his jacket, Damian only snarled and broke his wrist, viciously. The man would choke to death or bleed out very soon, whichever came first.

It was bleeding out.

He got Tim back to their base, and wrapped him up. Got the drugs flushed from his system, held his hand until they were gone and he was all right. As all right as either of them would ever be.

Interestingly, Tim didn’t comment on the murder when he came out of it. Sat quietly for a long time, looking at the Batman cowl that Damian had slung over the back of a chair.

Damian probably should have expected it when Tim quietly said, “I think I should hang up the cape. We both should.”

Should, maybe.

Damian wasn’t sure they ever could.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know that it all makes sense, but I hope you liked it? I don't know, man.


End file.
